


Just One Bite

by babs



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode Tag, Fade to Black, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26063977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babs/pseuds/babs
Summary: After the events of Evolution, Jack comes to some realizations.Hurt/Comfort Bingo Round 11: Bites
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	Just One Bite

Some time in the future when the SGC was made public and people became enamored of the love story between Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson, the media would tell all sorts of tales of how the two fell in love. They would all be wrong.

It was the bite mark that did it even though it took some time for Jack to realize it and this is the way it happened.

"Is he going to be okay, Colonel O'Neill?" Bill Lee whispered to Jack as the military transport plane flew them home from Central America.

Jack nodded. "Doc Fraiser will fix him up, I'm sure." He looked over at Daniel and realized he wasn't quite sure if he believed it himself. "Get some sleep, Bill."

The other scientist blinked and obediently closed his eyes while one of the medics checked the IV in his arm.

Jack got up and moved over to Daniel's side, giving a not quite sincere apologetic smile to the medic.

"I'll be out of your way in a second, sir," the captain said. "He's resting comfortably."

Jack nodded and watched as the medic adjusted the IV. The sheet covering Daniel's chest moved when he did and he saw it.

There was a bite mark on Daniel's shoulder—angry, red, an indentation for each tooth. The medic pulled the sheet back up before Jack truly registered what he was seeing. 

Daniel let out a small moan as he moved his leg and Jack reached out without thinking to cover Daniel's hand with his own.

"It's okay," he said when Daniel opened his eyes in panic.

"Jack?" Daniel squinted and Jack was pretty sure in addition to everthing else, Daniel had the mother of all headaches. "You're here?"

"I had to rescue you, remember?" Jack said—an attempt at a joke that sounded strangely flat to his own ears. 

Daniel gave a half-hearted smile. "We going home?"

"Yeah. Yeah we are." 

"Okay," Daniel sighed and fell back asleep while Jack kept his hand on Daniel's for the rest of the flight.

* * * *

It wasn't any surprise that Daniel had a bad infection. There was no way he was going to come out of the jungle with a gunshot wound and burns, and not be one sick puppy. 

Jack wandered back to the infirmary after debriefing with Hammond and spending time writing his report. He came in only to hear Daniel puking his guts out while Janet yelled orders to someone. Jack's own stomach cramped in sympathy.

He stood back—there were some lines he wasn't willing to cross and watching Daniel puke if it wasn't absolutely necessary was one of them.

Janet pulled the curtains around Daniel's bed a bit later and smiled as she saw Jack.

"He okay?" Jack asked.

"He will be," Janet said. "He reacted to the first antibiotic. Sir, perhaps you can fill me in on what happened to him? Daniel wasn't very forthcoming—when we could get him to make any sense."

"Torture," Jack said, his throat tightening. What the hell had he been thinking—letting two scientists go off on a mission even if it was on earth? And even if one of them was Daniel Jackson who was, despite Jack's comment on the plane earlier, competent of taking care of himself. But damn it, Daniel was part of his team. You are a first class idiot, Jack told himself.

Janet made a humming sound. "That explains it then. Burns across his chest and back. Small cuts."

"Bite," Jack said.

Her eyes widened. "How did you know about that?"

"Saw it by accident," Jack said. He stared at the curtains surrounding Daniel's bed as if he could see through them.

"I'll have a report on yours and General Hammond's desk in another two hours," she said. 

Jack had to ask. "Doc...was he...did they...you know..."

She tilted her head as she looked up at him. "If that is your cryptic way of asking if Daniel was sexually assaulted then the answer is no. At least not that I could determine. He wouldn't answer my questions regarding that."

"So there's a possibility," Jack said. He couldn't look at her any longer.

"Yes, but I would say it's unlikely." She patted his arm which made him feel as if she was his mother rather than the CMO of the base. "You can go sit with him, although he's probably just going to sleep."

Jack watched her walk away, watched a nurse head towards Daniel's bed and then emerge from behind the curtains with a few vials of blood.

He took a deep breath and pushed the curtain aside.

"Hey," Daniel said, his eyes still closed.

"You doing okay?" Jack said and immediately regretted that. What did he expect Daniel to say? Yeah, Jack, I'm fine. Just, you know, recovering from being tortured and shot and chased through the god damn jungle because my team commander wasn't there for me.

"Just..." Daniel swallowed hard. "I will be." He breathed through his mouth for a time while Jack sat there, unable to find any words to make it better.

"I want to go home," Daniel said into the silence and the way his voice broke just a little on the word home made Jack wince.

"I don't think Doc is gonna let you do that," Jack told him. "At least not until the antibiotics start working." Oh God, how did he even begin to ask Daniel what had happened?

"Do you think she'd let me have my laptop?" Daniel asked.

What? Where had that come from? "Your laptop?"

Daniel kept his eyes closed. "I have a mission report to write."

"I think it can wait a little," Jack said. He knew why—he knew the overwhelming need to get it down on paper—well on a screen at least—in the mistaken thought it would exorcise all the demons, that it would mean you could avoid talking about it. Oh Danny, he thought. It's not that easy.

Daniel's breathing lengthened and the tight set of his jaw loosened. Without thought, Jack reached out and rested his hand on the top of Daniel's head, the hair stiff with dried sweat under his fingers. I'm sorry, he thought, unable to say the words aloud.

* * * *

"Sir." Carter hesitated over her jello. She tilted her head towards Daniel who was talking to Teal'c and Jacob while they waited for their food.

"Long story, but he's going to be okay," Jack said. "Over the worst." 

"Mmhm," Carter said while she continued to watch Daniel, her food ignored. 

Jack followed her gaze and knew why she didn't believe a word he'd just said. Daniel might be up and mobile—well partially mobile but his skin was more pale than usual and it was obvious he'd been ill even if he hadn't needed the crutches. Plus the smile Daniel was giving everyone was one of those fake ones he used when pushing them away. The smile that didn't reach his eyes. Carter never fell for it.

Daniel shook his head and then headed out of the commissary. 

"His stomach's still iffy," Jack told Carter. "From the antibiotics."

She stared at him as if she expected him to fix it. "Aren't you going to check on him?"

Jack didn't move. He couldn't make himself get up and follow Daniel. He wondered why. And then words that shocked him came out of his mouth. "He's a big boy. He'll be fine."

Carter began to stand. "I'll go see..."

"Nope," Jack said, astonished at his own nonchalance. "He wouldn't appreciate you watching him puke his guts out."

Carter ducked her head, her face red and ate her jello with a single minded determination that made Jack's stomach clench.

Damn it, Daniel, he thought. He hadn't really talked to Daniel since that first night back in the infirmary three nights ago. Fraiser had said Daniel was able to go home and Jack hadn't even bothered to ask if he wanted company.

It was that damn bite—that sneaking, sniggling suspicion that something bad with a capital B had happened in that guerilla camp. The suspicion he was too afraid to even bring up with Daniel, because it would..what? That was the problem, Jack wasn't sure.

Even Daniel's report hadn't answered the question and the debriefing with Hammond was short and to the point. Daniel brushed everything over as if being tortured wasn't all that big a deal. And that was what worried Jack more than anything.

* * * *

"A word, Jack," Jacob said as they left the briefing room a few hours later.

"Jacob," Jack said and motioned for him to follow to his office. 

He was aware of Daniel and Carter still deep in conversation with Teal'c and Bra'tac in the briefing room. Aware that Carter and Teal'c had been watching Daniel with concern throughout the debrief as had the elder Carter and Bra'tac. Meanwhile his own stomach burned with what might have been the start of an ulcer. Just one more contribution to Jack's constitution from Daniel Jackson's escapades. 

Jack closed the door and was shocked to see Jacob pointing a finger at him.

"When are you going to get your head out of your ass, Jack?"

Huh? Where did that come from? Why was Jacob angry at him? Did he think he was hesitating on hooking up with Carter?

"My head...out of...my ass," Jack repeated and then he shook his head. "Cart...Sam...I don't..."

Jacob snorted and then his eyes flashed gold. 

"We are not discussing your relationship with Samantha. We are discussing your relationship with Daniel."

"My relationship with Daniel," Jack repeated. God, was that all he was capable of—repeating whatever someone said like that game Charlie used to play with his friends?

"You are angry with him and he does not understand why," Selmac continued.

"I am not angry with him. Why would I be? It wasn't his fault he and Doctor Lee got captured."

"You think it is," Jacob said. He put his hand on the door, prepared to leave. "Don't push him away again because of false pride."

Jack held himself together until the door closed behind Jacob and then he let himself collapse onto his desk chair. Was that it? Did he really blame Daniel for getting shot? Was he angry with him? Surely it couldn't be that simple.

And had he been leading Carter along? Did she think there was some possibility of a relationship between the two of them? Would she be willing to leave SG-1? Would he?

Jack put his head in his hands. What a mess you've gotten yourself into, he thought.

* * * * 

"Carter?" He caught her as she was leaving the locker room.

She was dressed in her civvies—some sort of flowy pants and a blouse that matched her blue eyes—even her heels were some sort of sparkly blue. "Yes, sir?"

"Uh...you gonna be okay driving yourself home?" And yeah, real smooth, Jack.

"I'm not driving myself home," she said and her face broke into a grin as she saw someone coming up behind him.

"Ready, Sam?" Janet Fraiser said, also dressed in civvies.

"Yeah," Carter said. "Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yeah, Carter?"

"Are you okay?" she asked, frowning.

"Daniel went home a few hours ago," Fraiser told him and then she and Carter left him standing alone.

Oh boy. You are one stupid son of a bitch and didn't those words have a whole history behind them. Daniel had been right when he'd said them over Reese's body. 

Jack pushed the locker room door open and fought back the urge to punch the wall.

* * * * 

Jack wasn't sure what food Daniel's stomach was going to tolerate, although he was sure Fraiser wouldn't have let Daniel go home if he wasn't going to hold anything down. 

He looked down at the three bags he held—Italian, Thai, and a bag from that little Middle Eastern bakery/grocery that had opened while Daniel had spent a year floating around the galaxy. Maybe he should have settled for some cans of soup from the grocery store.

He hesitated at the door. Daniel's car was in the driveway which was good. At least he'd made it home. He always thought of Daniel as an apartment kind of guy—well except when he was at Jack's. So when he'd rented the house, Jack had been surprised. 

Jack took a deep breath and pressed the bell. He was pulling out his cell phone and getting ready to call when Daniel opened the door.

"Jack?" Daniel sounded surprised but he hopped to the side on his crutches to let Jack in.

"Thought you might need some food," Jack said and he headed for the kitchen. 

"I was in the shower," Daniel said from behind him.

Jack turned after he deposited the bags on the small table. Daniel's hair was spiked up, still damp. He had on a pair of sweatpants and nothing else.

Every bruise, burn, and mark was visible on Danel's torso—a tangible reminder of Jack's failure.

Daniel looked down at his chest and then back up at Jack. "I'll go get a shirt." 

"No!"

Daniel flinched when Jack yelled.

Damn it, O'Neill, you are one world class asshole. 

"Sorry," he said, quieter. "I mean, Fraiser probably told you to keep them uncovered as much as possible. They'll heal more quickly and the antibiotic ointment she gave you needs to dry."

Daniel squinted at him, and Jack watched his adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard once, twice.

"Uh yeah. She did say that, but I'm wondering why you know it." Daniel was tense, his fingers tight around the handles of his crutches.

"Iraq," Jack said and coughed. 

That evidently was good enough for Daniel. He sat down with a thump at one of the two chairs at the table.

Jack got out some dishes—mismatched. He wondered where Daniel had found them. 

"I wasn't sure what you'd want to eat." Jack started removing the containers from their bags. "Wasn't sure how your stomach was feeling."

Daniel looked at the boxes and frowned. "Better than it was." 

Jack opened a container of mango tilapia and held it towards Daniel who shook his head.

"I don't think I'm up to spicy food yet."

Jack saw a fleeting smile as Daniel spied the container of pita bread and hummus. 

He fought down the urge to talk, to bring up his discussion with Fraiser. So they ate in silence and Jack kept his eyes averted from that damn bite mark that was the only thing he saw every time he looked at Daniel.

Jack excused himself to use the bathroom and when he came back in the kitchen, Daniel was at the sink, rinsing the plates they'd used. 

He dropped the plate and turned around, staring, hard-breathing.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Daniel's voice was strained, tight.

You idiot, Jack thought. Yeah, sneak up on a man who has just spent days being tortured and fleeing said captors.

Daniel's face had gone white and Jack wasn't sure if the other man was aware of where he was.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have. C'mon, let's go sit down." Jack kept his voice low, calm. "You with me?"

Daniel turned away and stared at the shattered plate. "I need to clean that up."

"I'll get it later," Jack told him. He could hear the tremors in the voice, the tight hold Daniel had on his emotions.

"No. It needs to be done now."

"It doesn't," Jack said gently. "Trust me, Danny. It doesn't."

He watched as Daniel gripped his fingers on the edge of the counter so hard that his knuckles went white. 

"He did that." The words were whispered and Jack moved to Daniel's side so his friend could see him.

"Did what?"

"Came up behind me. After I thought he was...after he was...done." Daniel nearly choked on the words.

"Did he...Fraiser thought..." Oh great, O'Neill. You're really doing a fantastic job at this. He took a deep breath before forging ahead. "Did he rape you?"

"What?" Daniel looked at him wide-eyed and trembling. "No. Why would you think..." He gulped.

"He bit you," Jack said. He pointed to the bruise on Daniel's shoulder. 

Daniel gave a harsh laugh. "Because I fought him."

"Because..." Jack wasn't letting it go. He knew Daniel, knew how the other man could hide the whole truth without lying.

"Because he told me he was going to cut off my dick and balls and feed them to me." Daniel let go of the counter and pushed away. He shook off Jack and limped quickly away.

Jack didn't follow. Daniel's control was thread thin. He knew he was lying to himself when he told himself to stay in the kitchen because Daniell wouldn't appreciate an audience. He knew he just didn't want to bear any truth. So he busied himself disposing of the shattered plate and cleaning the sink with shaking hands.

When Daniel finally emerged, he was wearing a t-shirt in addition to the sweatpants.

"Sorry," he said.

Jack shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry about."

Daniel stood, pale but in control. "Thanks for cleaning up."

"So..." Jack said.

"So?" Daniel's eyebrows raised. "I was captured, I was tortured, I was shot. You know, all the usual crap." The last words were sharp, clipped. 

"Par for SG-1, I guess," Jack said.

"No. Daniel looked at him and Jack couldn't look away from those blue eyes—accusing. "No. Not SG-1. Me."

Jack opened his mouth but Daniel kept going.

"Where the hell were you?" Daniel asked, his voice cracking. "What happened to no one gets left behind? Remember that little thing you told me all those years ago?"

"No one left behind. I didn't. I came for you and Lee."

"After I was nearly...after, Jack."

"What about you?" Jack knew he'd raised his voice. "Where the hell were you? Why did you leave me?"

"Leave you?" Daniel matched his volume. "Why did you let me go?"

"You asked me to! Damn it. You were the one who put that burden on me. Not on anyone else. You were the one who wanted to go off gallivanting around the universe."

Well, he hadn't wanted to say that. Daniel rocked back on his crutches and stared at Jack.

"I had no choice." His voice was softer. "I had no choice. There was nothing left for...I offered you a chance, Jack. You know I did. At least I think I did. I mean, I remember everything from before Oma, but I can't remember what I've done to make you not want to be friends any longer, to hate me."

"Hate you?" Of all the things he'd expected Daniel to say, it hadn't been that. "I don't hate you."

"I know you and Sam..." Daniel shook his head. "Never mind. It's your business. Yours and hers. But I thought even if...I thought we could still be friends."

"What about me and Carter?" Where the hell was all this going because Jack felt like he'd just fallen into Daniel Jackson's version of Wonderland. 

"You and Sam. C'mon, I can see, Jack. Even though I embarrassed myself by asking Sam if there was something between us when I, you know."

"Oh for crying out loud," Jack said. "Listen very carefully, Doctor Jackson. I do not love Major Samantha Carter. I love you." Oh shit. Oh shit. He hadn't meant for that to come out.

Daniel was staring at him—his mouth doing a very good imitation of a fish pulled out of the water and his eyes doing that blinking thing they did when he was stunned or confused or in awe.

"Wait, wait...I didn't..." Jack backpedaled which he knew was just making things worse, but he couldn't stop himself.

"So you don't what? Mean it? You don't love me?" Daniel tilted his head and for some reason, Jack found it absolutely adorable which he would never ever tell Daniel.

He'd blame that head tilt for his reaction for years to come. He took one step, two steps closer to Daniel.

"Damn it, I love you."

Daniel smiled. "So, you gonna kiss me or what?"

"Yeah. I think I could do that." 

And he did.


End file.
